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Again, the British royal family is facing controversy over their illustrious jewel collection.
King Charles III is set to hold the Sovereign’s Sceptre with a Cross containing a diamond known as the Star of Africa at his coronation on Saturday, which might mean trouble if he does.
They’ve already decided not to include the Koh-i-Noor diamond in Queen Camilla’s ceremony crown since it contains – you know – the jewel the monarchy stole from India in the mid-19th century and won’t give back.
On the other hand, the king is going ahead with using the world’s largest clear-cut diamond – weighing a massive 530 carats – found in South Africa in 1905 before being presented by the colonial government to the British monarchy.
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Officially known as Cullinan I, the diamond in the sceptre was cut from the Cullinan diamond, a 3,100-carat stone the size of a man’s fist that was mined near Pretoria.
Following in the footsteps of a number of other institutions calling for the repatriation of jewels and artefacts that were pillaged during colonial times, a couple of Saffas are also calling for this mother of a diamond to be returned to its rightful owners.
A gift is hardly a gift when the giver is being forced to hand it over through a gritted smile and overly-radiated lungs:
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There’s a petition supporting this cause, which has gathered just a little over 8 000 signatures, while Reuters reported on some locals making their opinions heard on the matter:
“The diamond needs to come to South Africa. It needs to be a sign of our pride, our heritage and our culture,” said Mothusi Kamanga, a lawyer and activist in Johannesburg who has promoted [the] online petition…
“I think generally the African people are starting to realise that to decolonise is not just to let people have certain freedoms, but it’s also to take back what has been expropriated from us.”
Johannesburg resident Mohamed Abdulahi said that “It should be brought back home because, at the end of the day, they took it from us while they were oppressing us”.
Displayed at the Cape Town Diamond Museum is a mere replica of the whole Cullinan diamond, while the king keeps the real one along with a smaller diamond cut from the same stone, known as Cullinan II, is set in the Imperial State Crown which is worn by British monarchs on ceremonial occasions. Along with the sceptre, it is kept with the other crown jewels in the Tower of London.
Saffas have been calling for this precious gem to be returned from whence it came for quite some time now. There was a plea back in 1995 when Queen Elizabeth II made her first visit to the country in 48 years and again when she died last year.
When and if we do ever get the diamond back, the next big, controversial question is who keeps them? If whoever they are can even manage that without something dodgy happening.
[source:robbreport]
